But frankly this spinning game winner from Cavaliers’ rookie Kyrie Irving to beat the Celtics on Sunday is worth watching again (or at least one time if you haven’t seen it). That is a rookie calmly letting the clock run down then driving, going between the legs, spinning and getting a good look in the lane and draining it with the game on the line.

Rookie of the Year is a two-man race right now, Irving and Ricky Rubio. But Irving is moving into the top spot for me with his play the last week.

Just a reminder here — this is not the bookmakers predicting what will happen, it’s them predicting how people will bet on the race. They want to spread the money around so they win no matter who wins the actual race. And, as you can tell by the size of the buildings in Vegas, bookmakers are pretty good at it.

After a month of playoff intensity, the basketball gods… well, actually the television executives that wanted to drag out the Heat/Celtics series more likely, decided to give us a night off.

I didn’t like it either.

To get a little fix we give you the compilation of Blake Griffin highlights the NBA kindly put together. What with Griffin winning the Rookie of the Year and all. And who doesn’t love some Griffin highlights?

There was no drama surrounding this year’s Rookie of the Year selection.

After missing the entirety of what would have been his rookie season, Blake Griffin exploded out of the gates in 2011 and never looked back. He put up some of the best numbers for a rookie forward in the last few decades, provided incredible highlight dunks with stunning regularity, and single-handedly revived interest in the Clipper franchise.

Griffin averaged 22.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game, and led all rookies with a PER of 21.93. There was no other choice for rookie of the year, and the voters acknowledged that, making Griffin the first unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year since David Robinson in the 1989-90 season. (Chris Paul missed being named the unanimous rookie of the year by a single vote after the 2005-06 season. He was robbed.)

Griffin still has to work on his jump shot, get more comfortable going over his right shoulder and using his left hand in the post, and improve on defense, but he’s already one of the best rebounders in the league, and he’s as effective without the ball as any other player in the league. The only thing more incredible than Griffin’s production this season was the way he produced, and I’m very pleased that every single voter recognized just how special Griffin’s rookie season was.

After years of struggle, things are looking up for the Clippers, and that’s all because of their incredible young power forward. As great as this season was, it’s only the beginning for him.

Here is the only bit of suspense about this announcement: Is it unanimous? And if it’s not, would the person who thinks Blake Griffin is not rookie of the year like to explain themselves.

The Clippers have called for a “major announcement” Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles, which will certainly be Griffin winning the award.

John Wall will likely come in a distant second. But this season it should be distant.

Griffin was a 20-and-10 guy as a rookie, averaging 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per game on 50.1 percent shooting.

Griffin fast became a star as a dunking YouTube sensation. With good reason — the man can dunk. In game, we’re not talking the over-the-car crap. We’re taking about destroying guys in games.

But if you think he can only dunk, you weren’t watching.

Griffin has handles. He is incredibly patient when he gets the ball in the post and if you bring the double he’s a surprisingly good passer as a rookie. His midrange game needs work, but it improved as the year went on. As did his defense.

In a league filled with people who won the genetic lottery, Griffin is a freak athlete. But he’s more than that, and he’s a guy with a crazy work ethic. Which means he’s only going to get a lot better.